The Last Path
by mari-doll
Summary: this is an alternate path to blue's story. one where the masked children are all kidnapped from the mask of ice by team rocket, and then live out their lives there. it's about blue's struggle to separate right from wrong, and figuring out if being with team rocket is really where she belongs. it deals with many characters, one being silver, but ultimately focuses on blue.
1. Chapter 1

Black was all around her.

A noise echoed. An object that fell to the ground. It slid towards her.

Fingers grasped the edges and she lifted it up to her face. A mask.

"Put it on."

She did. It fit perfectly.

"Don't ever take it off."

She nodded. It was to stay on at all times.

Her face was to be kept hidden.

•••••

"Do you understand?"

She nodded, looking down at the three stones in front of her.

Fire. Water. Thunder.

Evolutionary stones for fire, water, and electric pokemon.

And now she knew how to use them.

•••••

She was still in a dark room. Various objects were spread out before her, with just enough light on them for her to see what was what.

She could hear his voice, but he never revealed himself. He was always in the dark.

He was always kept hidden.

She bent over and grasped a Magnet, putting it with the pile of non-evolutionary items. There were now two neat stacks before her.

"Very good. You have now passed the second part of the test."

She sat back. Nodded slightly. There was one more part. Then her training would be complete.

•••••

She only knew his voice. So when he spoke, she recognized it well.

She got out from under her blanket, pressed an ear against the wall. His voice. It was coming from the other side.

"No good . . . Need you to fix this . . . Well I'm NOT READY!"

She jumped back. What was wrong?

•••••

It was light outside but she wouldn't know it.

She got out of bed, wandered over to the door, stepped out.

It was always dark. She had gotten used to it. She had learned to navigate down the halls.

Soon she was in the big room. There was the pitch of sunlight. But nothing was under it but the ground. She glanced around, though she knew she wouldn't be able to tell if he was here.

After a moment, she went over to the light, walked through it a few times. Nothing. But then what was the third part of the test?

She sat in the darkness. Waited. Nothing.

Perhaps this wasn't the right room?

She got up, went over to the door, out into the hall. In and out she went through several rooms, finding all bare. Then she came upon a locked one. She couldn't simply open it and walk in. She had to knock.

So she did.

A small scuffling could be heard in the distance.

It wasn't from behind the door.

She moved back quickly, nearly tripping over her feet. There were supposed to be others here. She only knew this by word. There was no sign of anyone ever here but her.

Perhaps he was in the room now.

She went back, stood before the closed door. Uneasiness filled her.

She reached out and grasped the handle, opened the door quietly. She left it open, in fear of making noise when it shut.

She stood there, just inside, and saw the light. Suddenly the darkness felt very wrong to her.

She walked over to the light quickly, her eyes moving around the room of which she couldn't see. Someone was there. Him?

No. It was a different presence. And more than one person. Was it the other children? She didn't think so.

She stepped into the light, put one foot in, and immediately felt a bit safer.

A split-second later, someone grabbed her from behind, thrust her forward. Another person covered her eyes with something. She was back in the darkness. The last pressed something against her mouth, a sound coming from it.

Then she was out like a light.


	2. Chapter 2

"Daddy?"

He peered over his father's desk, eyes just barely being able to see over the edge. The man that sat in the chair behind the desk was busy glancing down at some papers, but that didn't stop him from answering.

"Yes, Silver?"

Silver smiled, though it was hidden below the wood of the desk. "I know what I want for my birthday!"

"Do you, now?" He was holding two papers. After his words, he pulled one up closer to his face that the other.

"Yep!" Silver let out a small laugh. "I want someone to play with. Like . . like a girl! I want a girl to play with!"

His father had been scanning a certain page. At the end of Silver's words, they stopped, looked to his son. "Is that so? I think . . . that can be arranged."

Silver tipped his head, a huge smile appearing on his face. "Really?"

"Yes. We've . . acquired some new members. They're all a little older than you, but I imagine you'll all be equals soon enough. It might be good to get acquainted with them soon.

"You mean there's more than one girl? Can I choose which one I want?"

"If you prefer so . . "

"Yay!"

•••••

She remembered the struggle, but faintly.

When she opened her eyes, it was dark. She was on the ground. She sat up, and something caught her eye.

There was a slimmer of faint light in the corner. Someone was waving their hand through it. When she looked over, the hand stopped. A voice started.

"Hello. My name is Archer. I'm with Team Rocket. Do you know what that is?"

She shook her head.

"It's a group of people who want to obtain the most powerful pokemon in order to achieve our goal. You're here at Team Rocket Headquarters because we want your help in order to reach our goal."

The person's voice was low, but it wasn't him. Suddenly she got confused. "Is he here?"

" . . . Who is he?"

"I-I don't know his name", She admitted. "Just his voice. He's the one that taught me about evolution."

"Oh. Him. We don't know where he is."

It was a very curt reply. The person's next one was a little more heartfelt.

"You've been in the darkness all your life, haven't you?"

She nodded. Then she remembered that he probably couldn't see her. "Y-Yes."

"Then, how would you like to be out of the dark? How would you like to see the light?"

She hadn't thought about that. It would be pretty different. But perhaps . . she'd like it. She could actually be able to see what was around her, see shapes and colors and people. And herself. What did she look like?

" . . All you have to do is join us. Join Team Rocket."

There was no consequence to her actions right then. She was a young, clumsy girl who didn't know a thing in the world. She had been raised in the darkness and they were offering her the light. How could she refuse? She couldn't. And she would later regret it.

"Okay."

Two sharp exhales of breath echoed in a sort of grin-like noise. "Perfect. We can go right now."

To the right, a door cracked just barely, the slivers of white along the edges making her eyes go toward it.

"It's through this door. Come on now."

She walked over, bracing herself. The person opened it up inch-by-inch, every new piece making her head buzz and her eyes hurt slightly. It was bright.

When the door was all the way open, she stood in the doorframe, covering the holes of the eyes and mouth to her mask.

"You can take that off, you know. Why don't you go ahead and do that for me."

"But . . he'll get mad."

She heard a grunt coming from the person. "He's not in charge of you now. He couldn't get mad even if he wanted to."

"O-Okay." If this person said so, then what did she have to lose? Her fingers slid up to the edges, hesitating, then gently pulling. How long had it been since she put this mask on? She closed her eyes, letting it slide off slowly until she held it in one hand.

When she opened her eyes, they crinkled, and she held up her free hand to cover them, barely parting the fingers to get slivers of white. After a few minutes of parting her fingers, adjusting, moving her hand downward, she got to where her hand was back at her side and she was barely squinting, looking up and down the halls.

It wasn't just white. There were many shades and speckles of dark grays decorating the area. It made adjusting to the fluorescent lights overhead easier for her.

Archer turned away from the girl, grasping a small radio com in his hand. "Masked Child number five has just agreed, over", he whispered.

She looked around for a moment more, then turned towards the mumbling from behind.

The person behind her was quite tall. Tall and male with long arms and cerulean blue hair. He glanced down at her and muttered something else before fully turning his attention to her.

"What's your name?"

She felt absolutely terrified as soon as he finished. What was her name? She didn't have a name, or, one she didn't remember. Maybe she should just make one up. Yeah. She'd do that. But what should it be? Something memorable. Something like . .

Oh. Maybe . . . the first color she saw after so much time in the darkness.

So then she would be . .

"Blue", She said.

•••••

In the end Silver had never gotten to see the new recruits. He simply had to say what he wanted, and so he had said the youngest, the one most close in age to him that the others.

A door opened behind him, and Silver straightened up, turning his head to see someone poking their head through the doorway. "Hello?"

"I-Is that Silver?" The person was looking at him with half-opened eyes. Blue still wasn't quite used to the sudden changes in lighting, and it didn't help that there were so many warm colors in this room. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, just that she had to go to this room and ask for a 'Silver'.

Silver stood up and walked over to her. "Yeah, that's me. Who're you?"

She looked him up and down thoroughly. Her trust was on edge, being thrust into a new environment. But he didn't seem like anyone who'd hurt her. "Blue", She said slowly.

Silver gasped, suddenly just remembering. "Ohhh, now I know!" He stepped back further into the room and gestured her forward. Blue slid the door shut before following.

"It's my birthday today!"

Blue blinked. There was a small window in the corner of the room, so she could see that it was late, the sky pitch-black and the moon hidden by swaths of clouds. "How long until it's not your birthday anymore?"

Silver looked confused, then caught what she meant, turning to the small clock by his nightstand. "Looks like . . four hours."

That wasn't very long. "Has it been a good birthday?"

Silver dropped his head a little. "I guess. I haven't really done anything." Then he perked up. "But that's why you're here! You'll play with me, right?"

Blue was taken aback. "Wh-What? Play with you?"

"Yeah." He tipped his head to the side. "You are one of the new Team Rocket members, right, Blue?"

"Umm . ." Oh. She was. Another look at the kid and she guessed he was about her age. She wondered who he was. "I am, yes. Are you?"

He chuckled. "Oh no. I've been one since I was born. My parents are members, see?"

She narrowed her eyes in thought, then suddenly looked mystified. "I don't . . I don't know my parents."

"What?" Silver looked terrified. "That's horrible! Everyone should know their parents. Why don't you know them?"

"I . ." She paused, searching in her mind. "I was taken from them. So that I could be taught the methods of evolution." Her hand went up to her face. "They . . They made me wear a mask. And it was dark all the time. And I can't . . I can't remember anything past that." She stopped, realizing she was on the verge of tears. But it didn't matter. Silver was already on her, arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Will you do something for me, Silver?"

He stepped back, nodded.

"Help me get out of here."

His eyes widened. "B-But why would you want to do that?"

Blue turned her head. "Because . . I want to see my parents."

"That's crazy! Do you even know where they are?"

"I'll find them!" She felt bad for raising her voice, especially so when Silver flinched back. "S-Sorry. I just . . I know I can find them."

Silver was quiet for a few moments. But he had already made up his mind. Why should she stay here if she obviously wanted to be somewhere else? And he was the person to ask, considering he'd lived here all his life, practically knew every nook and cranny -and exit.

"Okay", he said, looking up. "I'll help you."

Blue let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Thank me after I get you out", he said, walking over to the window. There weren't ever any perimeter-check guards, but there were plenty of people who came and went as they pleased. They'd have to he careful not to be spotted.

"Follow me", he said. After, he quietly opened one side of the window and clambered onto and out of it. Blue followed warily, going much slower.

They were out on a little overhang, walking as softly as possible to a ladder on their right. Silver reached it first and signaled for Blue to stand in the shadows, where she wouldn't be seen by anyone below. "Warn me if anyone's coming", he said, then started down.

It was a clean shot, with no distractions. Then it was Blue's turn as Silver hid down below. She took deep breaths as she turned around and placed her feet on the first rungs. A glance downward revealed how far away the ground was. Blue closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself somewhere else. But there was no where for her to transport herself to.

Her hands balanced on the rungs, she began her descent, eyes still closed, breathing at an okay pace. When she opened them again, she was about halfway down, Silver calling something up to her.

"Other side. Other side!"

A quick glance behind revealed someone walking their way. Or, well, past their way, but if they came upon this spot she would be spotted. She looked back to the ladder. How was she going to get to the other side?

With her left hand she gripped the bar she was currently holding, and with her right she reached out to the other side and hooked it on, gently swinging her right leg over as well. Her breathing thickened, and she was scared out of her mind; but, she managed to get the left side of her body over, lowering herself just enough into the shadows. When the person passed, it was with ease, and she began going down the ladder on the side she was currently on until she reached the bottom.

Blue opened her mouth to say something, but Silver gestured for her to be quiet, grabbing her hand and tugging her along the wall of the building. Once they got to the edge, he peeked out, saw no one, and quickly tugged her along. It was still pretty dark, the ashen-gray clouds covering up the sliver of crescent moon.

They ran until they were out of the gravel, on a grassy path. Then he jerked her sharply, tugging her down into thick undergrowth. "You'll have cover in the forest", he whispered to her. "Good luck."

Blue smiled at him. "Thank you."

He shook his head, bearing out a huge grin. "No, thank _you._ This has been so much fun! The best birthday ever."

"I'm glad."

"You better get going, though", he said, standing up, backing away.

She nodded, standing up as well, walking turned towards him backwards. "Thanks again", she whispered before turning, dashing off.

Leaving him there. Alone. To return to his own thoughts.

•••••

There was a big commotion when he went downstairs the next day.

Once he was at the front of the crowd lining the hall, he saw what it was.

Two men in Rocket uniforms were walking through the entrance, carrying Blue with them by her arms.

_So it hadn't worked._

They had managed to find her anyway. She must be someone important, for them to care about losing a little girl like her.

Now that the lighting was better, and the circumstances certainly different, Silver got a better look at her.

Long, brown hair. A simple black dress. The eyes of someone who were very angry.

Put simply, she was stunning. Silver had never seen a person quite like her before.

They dragged her down the hall and the crowd dispersed, everyone muttering something as they broke away. Silver was intrigued. He had to know more about her.


	3. Chapter 3

Every new day wasn't quite different from the previous.

She got her own room. It had a light. For the first few days she never turned it off.

Blue's eyes still took a bit of time getting adjusted. It turned out she also had standard vision problems, which was it was taking her a little longer. She wouldn't have noticed at all back when she had the mask on, back when it was so dark she couldn't see anything anyways. But now that she could, it was bugging her that it was always somewhat blurred.

It was lucky for her that the branch she was staying at had an optometrist. There would be no way for her to get any sort of treatment otherwise. In a few days she had pretty standard contacts to go along with a pitch-black uniform, complete with off-white gloves and the same color boots. It all hung on a rack in the small room that occupied her space. For now she still wore her black dress, her small flats.

After that first night things had gotten a bit better. Then back to topsy-turvy. Blue was just so determined to get out of here that she didn't see that being here was the best chance she had at anything.

Only two days had passed since her chance meeting with Silver that she tried again. This time she had lasted a few hours longer, making it as far as to see a rooftop in the distance before she was whipped around and her eyes were covered.

They never really did anything about it. Just took her back. There were no consequences, but it had become harder each time. A few days after that she got it set in her mind to go, but when she tried to open her window, she found it locked shut. However, no one was around when she walked out the front door.

It was bitterly cold that night. Blue had only managed to walk an hour before plopping down in the cover of the trees, dirt beneath her rock-hard and frozen. She was out of breath and her feet hurt. It almost seemed like a relief when two Rockets found her. This time she had stood up and met them halfway, head down in defeat.

She was running a fever by the time she got back. It had been a non-eventful three days since then, with her tied down to her bed. No one came to visit, no one seemed to care that she didn't leave. Blue wondered during this time what it would have been like if her parents were here, if she had someone to take care of her.

There was a knock and she turned over, bleary eyes opening and feet managing to slide out of the warmth of the comforter. The floor was ice-cold, but she forced herself up, hobbled over to the door, unlocked it and threw it open. Blue was pretty much leaning against the doorframe. She nearly slid off when she saw who was on the other side.

"S-Silver", she gasped. From what she had managed to pick up from her time in Team Rocket, the one she had met on the first day wasn't kidding when he said he had parents in the organization, when he was born into it. The leader, not only of this branch, but of the whole force itself, Giovanni Andrews. And a high-up commanding executive, Ariana Moore.

Blue didn't know what to do. Luckily she didn't really have a choice. Silver opened his mouth to speak as she sunk to the floor, one hand still on the wall, her head sunk low and her mouth vibrating from the coughing.

She stopped after a few moments and a hand fell on her shoulder. Blue looked up to see it was Silver's. He looked at her carefully and gave her a half-smile after a few moments, helping her up.

Silver Andrews.

Helping her.

She almost didn't want to believe it. He was the son of the leader of Team Rocket and he was helping her. Why? Why was he doing this? She asked as much, straightening out as best as she could on her own, looking at him funny, croaking out a simple 'why' after a moment.

"Because . . ." Silver paused, closing his mouth, pursing his lips, opening it back up. "I don't know."

Blue raised an eyebrow.

"I just feel like I should", he said simply. "Like . . Somehow you deserve it. You're just so amazing. You should hear what dad has to say about you. What everyone does." Suddenly he looked at her oddly. "Why haven't you been? Why're you locked up in your room?"

She drew herself away. "Because I'm sick, Silver", she grumbled, frowning. "You shouldn't be here." She didn't care what Mr. High-and-Mighty Boss Andrews thought of her. She probably should have an opinion, but she didn't.

"Oh . ." He looked concerned. "Maybe you should go sit down."

That's exactly what she did, going over to the foot of her bed and leaning up against the edge, getting some of her weight off her feet. it felt good, relieving.

Silver wandered over with her, but stopped short when his eye caught something.

"No way", he breathed. "They gave you a uniform. Really? Already?! I haven't gotten mine yet." He crossed his arms, frowning for a moment, then perked up, turning towards her. "You should try it on for me."

"I'm _sick _Silver", she reminded him.

He nodded, looking slightly disappointed. "Okay, then promise you'll come show me the second you do put it on."

"I, uh . ." Could she make a promise like that? What if she put it on because she had something to do? She decided she didn't care. promise or no, she'd probably break it anyways. "Yeah. Yeah sure, I promise."

His eyes lit up in glee and he had spun out of the room proclaiming she get some rest so that she could get better sooner and try it on in a shorter period of time. Once the door shut she kicked her legs up and scooted back until her feet dangled off the mattress, looking up at the ceiling. Her sigh filled the room. Since when was Silver Andrews so fascinated by her? Since when did she go around making blind promises to people?

That had been exactly four days ago. She was all better now, all rested up and normal-feeling. And she was supposed to be somewhere today. The guy named Archer -the one she had first met upon joining Team Rocket- was her escort, leading her through the winding halls and many elevators in silence, which she didn't mind.

He ushered her through a set of doors, and thats when she became wary.

It was a big room, well-decorated and tidy-looking. In it were several people wearing the same-coloring uniform as Archer. They were all situated around a desk, to which a man of whom she had only heard in name was sitting.

Giovanni Andrews.

Blue's lips tightened as she was pushed forward, nearly penguin-walking in such a stiff and hard manner all the way up to Team Rocket's executives and boss.

His hands were folded up, elbows resting on the wood of his desk. When she was before him, he let them drop down below, sitting up straighter. "Hello Blue", he began. "I don't think we've had the pleasure of introducing ourselves to one another. My name is Giovanni." He nodded to his left, at the woman with red hair. "Ariana." Then he went in turn down the little circle, to Proton, who stood next to Ariana, to Petrel, who was on my other side, to Archer, who had just now joined the circle. Giovanni leaned forward just a bit. "I've been led to believe that you know quite a bit about evolutionary methods. Would you mind proving me correct?"

She bit her lip in a way that was virtually unnoticeable to everyone around her, thinking for a few moments. They didn't think she was, did they? "Yes", she said. She'd show them. The one word earned her a snicker from Proton, and devious looks given to her by everyone else in the room. Giovanni nodded to Ariana, who handed him some papers. He rifled through them until he found what he was looking for, and set a picture out on the edge of the desk. Then he began reading off of another sheet.

"Deepseascale. Light blue with some teal near the roots. Used to evolve Clamperl into Gorebyss." He stopped, looked up at her. "That's all the information we have. But in order to obtain a Gorebyss, we need to know first how it evolves and where the location of a deepseascale is, among other things." He paused for a moment, choosing his words. "Tell us all you know."

Something as easy as that? She almost scoffed. "First, that picture doesn't match the description." She spoke outright, a little loudly, and while they were all already staring at her, she got the feeling she had earned herself some curious glances nonetheless. "It shows the teal on the edges, instead of on the bottom. And that's not even a deepseascale. It's a dragon scale." Blue paused, waiting just a moment before speaking again, folding her hands behind her back.

"A deepseascale is pink, amaranth at best. It's wider, smaller in length than the dragon scale. Like . ." She looked up, realizing she had been staring at the paper. "May I draw it for you?"

Giovanni was seething, but she could tell his anger wasn't directed at her. Probably at the people who had told him the dragon scale was not a dragon scale and instead what he wanted it to be. When he handed her a pen, it was calmly.

She stepped forward and made light indentations on the paper in the form of a circle with a small crescent-moon shape hollowing out one corner. Blue stood back when she was done, waiting a few moments for everyone present to examine it before continuing.

"It's found on gorebyss, usually a shade or two darker than it's regular scales", she said slowly. "You put it with a clamperl and . . trade it . . and it'll evolve into gorebyss." They all seemed satisfied, though she was still a little hesitant. She had learned all the methods of evolution that involved trading, but she didn't know what the word trading meant. She certainly couldn't tell anyone how to do it.

"Thank you, Blue. I have one final thing to ask of you."

She whipped her head up, nodding slowly.

"Will you be willing to accompany a team out to sea to retrieve deepseascales?"

Blue paused, suddenly wondering what this was all about. She asked as much, and was met with a pretty straightforward -though vague- reply.

"Clamperl are easier to obtain than gorebyss", Giovanni said. "And we just need specifically the gorebyss. For money, of course", he added, at her questioning look. "I'm sure you already knew this?"

It was a test question. He glanced at Archer after saying it, and she just nodded at him. She had been told what Team Rocket did. And it made sense. Gorebyss were far prettier than clamperl and would make a lot more money. They would probably sell them to aquariums or rich investors that needed an eye-catching attraction. There was no real harm in any of it, right?

"I . . yes, I'll team up with the team you're sending."

Giovanni nodded, once again sliding his hands underneath his desk. "Good. You'll need to . ." He took a moment to glance at her bland attire. "Wear your uniform. That will be all, then."

She turned as the door opened behind her, Proton holding it for her. It only took a moment for her to register she was supposed to leave and do exactly that, hurrying out and a good distance down the hall before pausing.

Maybe this was her shot to get out? Or, well . . maybe this was where she was meant to be. She certainly couldn't imagine the stunningness of the gorebyss, and nearly took on tears at the thought of children such as herself staring among the beauty of the aquatic pokemon. She knew enough about to world to figure out where the pokemon would be sold to. No matter where it went, it was bound to make someone extremely happy. That gave her good thoughts. This was a good place to stay, for now.

Blue turned down the hall once more, taking the stairs two at a time, and only paused a moment when she caught Silver heading up them before continuing down the next set. She could feel his gaze on her until she dipped out of sight.

Yes, a good place to stay.


	4. Chapter 4

It was tight, but it was a good fit.

Blue liked it well enough. The sleeves ended just above her wrists, the hem in the middle of her thighs, the collar resting right up against her throat. A red letter R was plastered on the torso of the black uniform. Heather-colored gloves and boots completed the look, along with a newsboy hat she was forced into putting on. At least she was allowed to keep her hair down, another reason she was particularly special for, as all the other female Team Rocket agents she had seen had shorter hair, or plastered up into their hat.

It was all fine until she started moving. Blue felt sticky. Everything moved with her; nothing was loose even by a smidge. She'd have to get used to it, though.

The first thing she tried to do was go up to Silver's room. She didn't even make it to the elevator before being dragged down the hall, pushed into a small room, and out the back door of the room into a cargo hold. Then she was left to her own devices, wandering down the landing to be on the floor of the large area. Blue tugged at the fingers on her gloves, wondering what to do.

Someone poked her from behind in the shoulder blades, and she turned sharply, surprised to see Silver standing in front of her. Whatever amusing look he'd worn before completely disappeared once she faced him, wiped for a mix of awe and astonishment.

"Wow", he breathed. Blue stepped back a bit, feeling stunned, and he snapped out of it.

"Th-This is for you." A pokeball landed in her hands. "It was in a drawer with your name on it. I'm supposed to give it to you."

She looked down at it, wondering what was inside, when Silver suddenly gave her another quick glance and turned to leave. Blue looked up so fast she dropped the pokeball, grabbing the edge of his shirt instead. "Silver . ."

" . . Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Both their words were soft, quiet, distant-sounding. He still hadn't turned to her, but gave her a quick nod. She released him just in time for him to dart forward, blinking out of her sight within moments.

Blue bent over and snatched up the pokeball, choosing to put it on her head. Its small size and her curved hat would prevent it from rolling around, being uncomfortable.

Then a thought came to mind. What drawer? The one in the place she was before, the one with no light?

Was this intended for her in the beginning?

Now she was curious, but she wasn't a fool. She'd wait, find a moment alone, then see what lurked inside.

A noise then caught her attention. People were moving towards the center of the room.

It was time to go.

••••

It was haunting to see her.

Not just in the uniform, but really up-close like that. When her skin had energy again, her hair not limp but full of life. She was stunning, and she knew he knew it. Why else would she have flinched back?

Silver walked at an incredibly slow pace once he knew he was out of her range of sight. He just needed to think. But think about what, exactly? He decided it was a lot of things.

••••

There were two bad possibilities with this outfit.

One was that it'd be sweltering outside. Black wasn't exactly the perfect color to wear in that situation. It didn't help that her shirt had long sleeves.

The other was rain. The color didn't particularly matter in that one, but it wasn't much fabric, very thin, and the skirt wasn't a pleasure either.

She was in the second situation.

It wasn't even just a sprinkle, no, a full-on storm. Blue would honestly prefer the snow.

Her and the sixteen other Rocket members that had come were in the outskirts of a place called Pallet. It didn't sound familiar to her at all. She hadn't really gotten that much of a look of the place, but what she did see she dropped in moments. There had to be only two or three houses from what she could tell. No way was she from there.

But she also wasn't going to make a run for it. The storm had calmed considerably by the time they all got on the water, but it was still pouring and -much to her annoyance, everyone had a jacket but her- she wasn't going to risk leaving and getting sick because of the cold.

Lightning flashes in the distance, making Blue bring her head it. It didn't frighten her, just made her wonder. Natural or pokemon-made? Any way, it was beautiful, clear and powerful and bright in the midst of the rain.

She had been left alone pretty much, not really caring. Nearly everyone was on the opposite end of the boat, looking overboard for the gorebyss that were supposedly around here. Blue didn't think so, considering they were supposed to be from another region, but apparently water pokemon were special, all over the place. Also, she'd been told a cargo ship carrying pokemon from gorebyss' primary region had lost a few pokemon. A gorebyss had been one of them.

She could still hear mutters. Ones of masked children and their special treatment, of a girl with long, brown hair who ran away a lot, one who had met the boss' son, and, most recently, had gotten her own pokemon. She knew their feelings, their jealously, their timidness. They were tired of her but they were tiring themselves out by being afraid of what would happen if someone picked on her. She guessed they weren't good things. So she was fine with being left alone.

Shouting came from the other end, and Blue carefully stood, waiting a moment before making her way over. There were two big clumps. One at the edge of the boat, turning a knob, and another leaning over the side, looking to see what the other group was pulling up.

She could see the beginnings of a net, water heavily dripping from the openings. It had to be pretty high up already, considering she was behind all the taller, older Rockets. Sure enough, she was right. One of them at the front turned back and searched the boat with wild eyes before landing on me.

"There you are. Get over here. We're ready."

Blue wasn't exactly sure what she was here for, but she was apparently about to find out.

••••

Should he have been concerned?

Where exactly did she go?

Silver didn't have much time to worry. he had walked past his father's office, the door being opened. He heard his name in the air once, and backtracked, looking into the room. Giovanni sat behind his desk, writing something, and spoke without looking up, seeming to sense his presence. "Come here. I have somewhere for you to be."

"Y-You do?"

••••

It was magnificent, glorious, stupefying.

And she was standing right in front of it.

Blue only got a moment to bask, however, as the one that had called to her spoke yet again, the same gruff voice.

"Which one is the scale we need."

It was more of an issued command than a question, but she understood. It wasn't that hard to spot if you knew what to look for. Near the back, under a small cluster of smaller, overlapping scales, slightly a different shade of color.

She pointed to it and waited a few moments in silence while the ones behind her brooded in silence. Finally, one of them spoke up, but not out loud, choosing instead to briskly walk up to the one who was ordering her and say something to him quietly enough for Blue to not be able to hear over the rain.

It was at that moment she remembered who he was. Proton, one of the four Rocket executives. He made a hand gesture to the people at the crank and one ran over. He spoke to the Rocket silently and let them go back to the group. Noise started up soon after.

Blue looked back over to see a huge crane being lowered towards Gorebyss. All the water had now been drained out of the net, and she could already see signs of visible uncomfortableness from the pokemon.

Another giant flash of lightning caught her eye, drawing her away from the event before her. When she turned back, she saw the crane was in more of a claw-like structure, two sides hooked around the deepseascale. Gorebyss began struggling.

Proton snapped his head over to the crank group. "Hurry it up", he screeched above the rain, making Blue flinch back.

A sound turned her back towards the pokemon, just in time to see the scale being ripped off.

The blood. Everywhere. Hanging off the scale, from the open wound caused by the force of taking the scale off. Some managed to get on her face, a tiny splatter on her cheek. Everyone surged forward, all wanting to catch a glimpse at the evolutionary item. Blue was in the middle of them, being pushed around like the boat was on these choppy waves. The rain still came down, hiding her gasp at what she had witnessed, her big, round eyes, her unstable legs.

Her mind was a jumble of wild thoughts. Her head lightheaded. Rough adrenaline somehow surging through her, just making her feel worse.

There seemed to be an argument but she didn't catch it. All she saw was the net being released from the bar it hung from, the gorebyss still inside. Another argument and Proton's voice cut through her thick thoughts for a moment.

"It's none or our business whether or not it dies. We came for the deepseascale and we got it. That gorebyss is no longer in our interest anymore. Now come on, we're leaving."

The boat started moving back to shore and Blue fell to her knees, no longer able to stand.

••••

He would never forget that look.

Her hair was drenched. All of her was. But her hair took the worst of it.

She walked so stoically, lips slightly tight, yet her eyes were wide.

There was dried blood on her cheek.

She didn't seem to notice me, to notice anyone. Blue took the stairs, letting others crowd into the elevator, and that was the last Silver saw of her on that day.

She had looked absolutely petrified, and there he had stood, doing nothing.


End file.
